Pernod Ricard is monitoring the legalisation of cannabis in the US and Canada with the potential of adding a cannabis-based product to its portfolio in the future.

Legal marijuana in the US is predicted to reach a market value of $23bn by 2022 and there are cannabis-based beverages being launched in Canada and certain US states where the drug has been legalised.

During the Pernod Ricard 2018/19 half year results at Gong, CEO Alexandre Ricard said: “We’re seriously monitoring the situation and starting to consider if it (cannabis) would or would not fit in our portfolio.

“We’re not there yet, we’re currently just analysing the data and observing the market from a consumer point of view in a number of US states and Canada. At this stage, and let me be very clear, we have no evidence whatsoever that cannabis legalisation may have an impact on premium spirits consumption."

Ricard said the company is still far away from asking other questions from an ethical point regarding the international laws of cannabis, as well as a business point of view if there are any synergies or margin opportunities.

Ricard added: “At the moment we’re just monitoring the situation to see whether cannabis has a disruptive impact on the industry, which so far we haven’t seen.”